Athol sixth-grader may get to go to state geography bee

Kindergarten felt like a waste of time to Cassidy Miller. She had already taught herself to read and had picked up the basics of math. Now that she’s reached sixth grade, those hours of independent study are paying off. Cassidy won the Athol Elementary School geography bee and, as a spelling champion, represented her school in the Lakeland School District spelling bee this January.

If she scores well on the written geography test, she may compete at the state level in a competition sponsored by National Geographic. That decision will be made in March. Students are tested on more than just locations, but also trivia related to different cultures, such as the meaning of “salt box.” Cassidy deduced by process of elimination that this is a type of a house.

“I though it was really weird,” she said.

The capital of Egypt? She found that question easy, but her winning answer at the Athol geography bee was more challenging. She had to name a Canadian province east of British Columbia. She got that right, Saskatchewan, even though she struggled with the spelling. Unlike the spelling bee, where students spell out loud, in geography bees answers are written on a white board and then stated aloud. The format is similar to “Jeopardy,” a show Cassidy watches with her family, which includes her parents Billy and Rachel Miller and two younger sisters.

Students who compete in the national geography bee have a chance to perform in front of game show host Alec Trebek and win a $25,000 college scholarship. Cassidy finds that answering questions in front of an audience is more stressful than playing along with the game show at home. Her school’s entire fourth, fifth and sixth grades watched her compete, along with some parents and teachers.

“I was really nervous,” she said.

Athol elementary fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Booth was the judge at the school competition and said Cassidy did well with the nerve-wracking experience.

“She’s very knowledgeable,” Booth said. “I hope she makes it and would go on to compete at the state level. We’re very proud of her.”

Cassidy spends a little time every day studying for her competitions. She is an avid reader but said that her true passion is food and she’d like to be a chef. Although she studies exotic places, she doesn’t dream about traveling.

“It doesn’t make me want to go there,” she said. “It makes me hungry.”

Study questions about the tropics give her cravings for pineapple pizza. Cassidy is a Food Network junkie and hopes to own her own restaurant one day, complete with celebrity chefs like Emeril Legasse and Bobby Flay. Her cooking repertoire includes French toast and cream puffs.

She hopes to take college courses while she’s in high school, graduate early and get started on culinary school.

“I’ll need lots of money to pay those chefs,” she said.